“THE JUDGMENTS OF THE LORD.”
By G. W. A.
David says, Ps. 19:9, “The judgments of the Lord are true [margin, Heb., TRUTH,] and righteous altogether.” This verse does not refer to those punishments, or calamities, which are so frequently sent as judgments by the Lord upon mankind. It most evidently has reference to the holy law of God, which in the Old Testament is denoted by the use of a number of terms, as commandments, law, statutes, precepts, testimonies, ordinances, judgments, etc. In Zephaniah, second chapter and third verse, reference is made to the law of God in a prophecy which evidently has its application near the end of time. The verse reads: “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his JUDGMENT; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” The real meaning of the word “judgment” in this verse is not so apparent from a casual reading. In fact, the English word judgment does not here well represent the meaning of the original. The Hebrew word that is rendered “judgment,” in this instance, is מִשְׁפָּט, mish-pat, and this is defined in Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon, “1. Judgment. 2. Right, rectitude, justice, what is just, lawful, conformable to law. Spec. a) a law, statute, as a rule of judging. Ex. 24:3; Lev. 18:4, 5; Deut. 4:1; 7:11,” etc. Now let this latter definition be applied to the word in Zeph. 2:3, and the verse would read, “Seek ye the Lord all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought HIS LAW.” This gives a good meaning, and doubtless the true one. The cases where mish-pat in the Old Testament refers to the law are given below, so that the reader may see at a glance this particular use of the word. The italics in each instance are the translation. Gen. 18:19, to do justice and judgment,
Ex. 15:25, a statute and an ordinance,
21:1, these are the judgments,
Lev. 18:4, 5, 26, Ye shall do my judgments,
19:37, & 20:22, statutes and all my judgments,
24:22, ye shall have one manner of law,
25:18, & 26:15, 43, 46, if your soul abhor my judgments,
Num. 35:24, according to these judgments,
36:13, commandments and the judgments,
Deut. 4:1, 5, 8, 14, 45, statutes and unto the judgments,
5:1, 31, & 6:1, 20, statutes and judgments,
7:11, 12, & 8:11, statutes and the judgments,
11:1, 32, & 12:1, statutes and the judgment,
26:16, 17, statutes and judgments,
33:10, shall teach Jacob thy judgments,
2 Sam. 22:3, all his judgments (were) before me,
1 Kings 2:3, commandments and his judgments,
6:12, and execute my judgments,
8:58, & 9:4, & 11:33, his statutes and his judgments,
2 Kings 17:37, the statutes and the ordinances,
1 Chron. 16:12, and the judgments of his mouth,
22:18, & 28:7, to fulfill the statutes and the judgments,
2 Chron. 7:17, observe my statutes and my judgments,
19:10, commandments, statutes, and judgments,
Ezra 7:10, teach in Israel statutes and judgments,
Neh. 1:7, & 9:13, 29, & 10:29, the judgments which thou commandest,
Ps. 18:22, all his judgments were before me,
19:9, the judgments of the Lord,
81:4, a law of the God of Jacob,
89:30, and walk not in my judgments,
119:7, 12, 20, 30, 35, 43, 52, 62, 102, 106, 108, 120, 160, thy righteous judgments,
147:19, 20, and his judgments unto Israel,
Isa. 58:2, forsook not the ordinance of their God, they ask of me the ordinances of,
Eze. 5:6, 7, hath changed my judgments,
11:12, neither executed my judgments,
20:11, 13, 16, 18, 19, 21, 24, shewed them my judgments,
36:27, & 37:24, ye shall keep my judgments,
Zeph. 2:3, which have wrought his judgment,
Mal. 4:4, the statutes and judgments, In this list there are at least ninety instances in which MISH-PAT refers to the law of God, and in the more than three hundred cases besides, where it occurs, but which are not given here for want of room, no doubt there are many more instances in which it refers directly to the same divine instrument. From the above schedule may we not deduce the reasonable conclusion that the interesting prophecy in Zeph. 2:3 has direct reference to the sacred LAW OF GOD?